Our lives are shifting online more than ever, meaning that digital assets are playing an ever greater role in everyday life.

There is no legal definition of digital assets in the UK, however they often include information or data stored electronically, for example, in the cloud or online. They can be divided into those that are rights and interests in digital property, and those that are digital records.

Digital property rights means intellectual property rights such as: copyright; domain names; online bank accounts; gaming tokens.

These have a monetary value and can be left by Will. Digital records on the other hand take the form of email accounts, e-books, photographs and videos and social media accounts. Some of these may also have property rights (eg an email containing the manuscript of a novel).

On the death of an individual, their personal representatives have the benefit of any rights over the deceased’s assets (including digital assets).

However, these are subject to the standard contractual terms and conditions imposed by service providers when accounts are created, often failing to account for what happens after the death of the account holder.

The Law Society has found that 90 per cent of those writing Wills are not raising the question of digital assets with their clients.

Even where provisions for digital assets are included in a Will, this is not always sufficient. However, there are signs that the law is beginning to evolve. Apple, for instance, announced at its recent Worldwide Developers Conference the rollout of its Digital Legacy program which will include a pre-planning Apple function, called Legacy Contact.

The Law Commission is currently considering how the law can keep up with technological changes. One area it is considering is whether non-tangible assets can be ‘possessed’, in line with physical assets.